New Beginnings
by SpicyHippo
Summary: When Talim's tribe discovers the wonders of Soul Edge, she breaks all ties with them fearing the evil they now possess. Once they turn against her, she finds herself at a training facility, preparing to destroy Soul Edge and all who support it. Rated T for minor violence and romance in later chapters. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This is my first story so please don't be too harsh! ;) constructive criticism is appreciated though. I tried to add a little humor here and there. I wouldn't want anyone to be hitting their head on the keyboard with how overly-dramatic this is. Soooo yeahhh. Enjoy!**

I heard a deep rumbling within the ground that seemed to shake my body with each step. A rhythmic beat seemed to fill the air, only it was a beat that I'd never heard before. Something was off...Granted this tribe was far from affectionate, the chanting coming from the people seemed to be welcoming darkness. To be honest it was frightening.

I followed the noise to a nearby cave, an orange glow casting elongated shadows of dancers holding...something. My blades seemed to call my name and unable to resist the urge, I slipped them into my hands. The coolness of metal seemed to calm my uneasy nerves as I snuck ever so carefully into the cave. I need not worry about my footsteps being heard (although I am quite the stealth master if I do say so myself) because the chanting was so loud. I couldn't even tell what they were saying. It was as though they were speaking another language.

Peeping my head above one of the several large rocks nearby, I stood in amazement as I processed what my eyes were taking in. The Soul Edge. It was being pranced around in this cave as if it were a roasted pig. When did we even get the Soul Edge?!

My stomach twisted as I saw them gently place it down, adorning it with beads and herbs as if it were chief, and kneel before it, bowing, and worshiping it. _Oh God_, I thought. _I have to get out of here. Once they start worshiping evil, nothing good can come of this land. I have to get out while I still can._

Silence began to settle among them as they prayed and I began to see that my chance for getting out unseen and unheard was slimming. I turned abruptly and crouched, almost crawling towards the entrance of the cave.

"What's that, Soul Edge, mother of darkness?" One said. _Mother of darkness? Good Lord they really have lost it!_ "You want a sacrifice?" I froze. "The sacrifice is among us?" At this point, I just wanted out. I didn't care if I was making noise; hopefully they just thought it was a squirrel and they'd search and kill it. But no. That's just not how my luck works.

"Who's there?!" someone yelled, but I continued to run. It wasn't like I was just going to say "Oh yeah it's me, sorry 'bout that." Suddenly a rumbling began to fill the cave, the sound of a stampede of people rung in my ears. I guess they didn't need me to answer to know I was there.

I continued to run, but it seemed as though the cave were stretching; as if the Soul Edge was preventing me from leaving until I was caught. I looked behind me, not yet seeing the crowd of people hunting after me. _CRAP!_ I thought as I was literally toppled over some guy I didn't even recognize. My heart pounded as I looked into his black, soulless eyes. I felt as though as he was piercing me even though no weapon was even on his person.

He seemed to chuckle; his voice crackled like destructive flames that turn wood to ash. He was a malfested. Gripping my blades even harder, I swung at his body which was preventing me from getting up off of the floor. His body seemed to hiss, his face in shock, and his bare chest was now covered in his own black blood. Wriggling free of his grasp, I stood.

"You are the one that is to be sacrificed!" he screamed, violent hisses and voices of the already deceased filled the air. This was what Soul Edge did to people; it turned them into slaves of darkness; into creatures God himself would shun. His silver hair danced as the wind from outside picked up; his skin almost becoming translucent enough that I could see his black veins. All the tendons, muscles, and veins in his body seemed to swell with anger as he screamed at me words I didn't even know existed.

Although I could stare at this spectacle like a train wreck, I shook my head, running out of the cave. I knew I would have to leave immediately. Even though my whole life centered around these people I trusted, I loved, I couldn't stay for long. If they really believed the Soul Edge would provide for them, I would let them leave and be destroyed by it. _This village will fall...it's just a matter of time_.

The village seemed eerily quiet as I ran into my hut, grabbing a random bag and filling it with clothes and food. I really didn't have time to match or care about what I was packing. Just as I was about to leave, something stirred in me. There was something I was forgetting. I powerwalked over to a box that I had hidden under my bed. I opened it to see my mother's necklace sitting right where I had left it. Before she died she gave it to me, telling me to always stick up for what I believed in, to always do what was right. There was no way I was leaving without this.

I ran to my door, half expecting to find some other hot guy to run into, but thankfully there wasn't (never thought I'd say _that_ before...). The leaves covered the ground causing each step I made to echo with a loud crunch, probably screwing up any chance I had of leaving without bodily harm.

Feeling winded, I stopped running for a moment, noticing that I was almost home free; I was almost outside of the village. As if my worst nightmares were confirmed, I hear a crunch behind me. Swiveling, weapon in hand, I held it against my attacker's throat. I was almost shocked. It was a village boy, about my age; to be specific, the boy I was promised to. My father told me to marry this boy due to his wealth and respect in the village. And I wasn't just going crazy; I could tell it was him because he was the only kid in the village with a dangling, crystal earring in one ear, and he had the wildest black hair. But maybe it wasn't him...It was so dark, I couldn't really see his face...

To be honest, I didn't really know him...I couldn't quite recall his name, so I just said, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said, walking closer. Something told me to leave my weapon at his jugular so I trusted my gut.

"What do you want?" I said sternly, not really caring what he thought of me at this point. I was leaving anyway.

"You know what I want," His voice seemed to growl at me as he inched closer. Just then, the glow from the moon hit his face, his soulless eyes staring me in the face. Staring _through_ my face, really. He, too, was malfested. Turning abruptly, I began to run into a field that was just outside the village; it was crunchy and yellow.

I could tell that in the dark because something caused me to fall on my face. It wasn't a graceful fall either; and there was no hot guy to pick me up and we wouldn't live happily ever after. Nope. But I felt a stinging pain around my ankle that was for sure. It felt as though it were expanding and swelling. I turned my gaze behind me to see that boy running towards me, a gnarled knife in hand, a chain around my ankle. _He must have thrown that at me...JERK! I will get back at you for giving me a cankle!_

I began to crawl backwards, trying to stand on at least one foot, but between the crap I was carrying on my back and my bum leg, I could only inch forward in the tall grass. Great. Now I was tired, scared, I had a cankle, _and_ the grass was making me increasingly itchy. I tried to stumble to my feet—er, foot. And, if only for a moment, I was successful at hobbling around. All of a sudden, I felt him slam into me, sending me to the ground with a painful thud. All the air seemed to be squeezed out of me; I couldn't get any air in my lungs.

"Why are you doing this?!" I coughed, suddenly tasting the metal tang of blood. _If he sent one of my teeth flying..._

"Because it's what I was sent to do. I must bring the sacrifice to the chief to be slaughtered." He sounded so cold I didn't mind punching him square in the jaw. Using all the strength I could muster, I reeled back my fist and hurled it towards his face I heard him scream, the sound and feel of a crunch under my fist.

It was an exhilarating feeling to unleash my blind rage on this guy. Ahhh. There's nothing quite like punching a guy... But before getting too caught up in that, I raced to my one good foot, hobbling as fast as I could away from this crazy guy, spitting blood as I went. I chain was still raddling behind me when all of a sudden I felt a tug on the metal rings that were wrapped around my swollen (probably dislocated) ankle. Screaming, I felt paralyzed with pain and I felt the kid tying up my hands. _Good Lord he just does not want to give up..._

I was about to retaliate when I felt a sharp pain in my head. Everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm trying to make the chapters a little shorter (if you're anything like me, your ADD doesn't allow for much concentration...SQUIRREL! ahem...) but there will most likely be more of them in general. Thanks for reading! :D**

My head was so heavy that I couldn't even support it. It felt as though someone or something was pushing it down...was I standing? Slowly opening my eyes, I realized I was floating. No, no I was tied to something. Painfully craning my neck, I looked behind me to see the splintered wood pole I was tied to. It was still dark out, but the moon perfectly lit up all the malfested's demonic faces, staring at me as though I were the last drop of water on this planet and they all wanted a sip to cool their parched throats.

Drums began to play; my heart seemed to speed up as they began to chant. Only this chant was much different than the one in the cave. It seemed almost happy—happy that their sacrifice was about to be made. Although my head was pounding with pain and my blood was rushing, I knew I couldn't give up. I wasn't just going to be another one dead in this tribe. Especially because of Soul Edge.

Just as I was beginning to plan my magical escape, a glint of fire came out of the corner of my eye. It was the boy again. This time he was carrying a torch. Looking under me, I saw a pile of dead grass. Sudden realization dawned on me: they were going to burn me at the steak.

"You can't do this to me you animals!" I yelled, trying to at least stall for a few moments. They only looked at me, their empty eyes and vacant smiles glimmering in the moonlight.

"Oh, we can," the kid said, walking closer and closer to my haystack—or should I say deathbed? "The Soul Edge commands it be done; so it will be obeyed."

"Why is that? Because you don't want to be killed?" Silence. "Well guess what? You are all going to die because of this evil! You traded your souls to the sword that can bring you nothing but death and destruction!" I began trying to swing and gain enough momentum to break the pole. If ever there was a time I wanted to be obese, now was it. If I was only a few pounds heavier I could break this thing easily...

"This is why you are the sacrifice," the kid said, lighting the hay beneath me. The smell of burnt grass hung under my nose. My heart pounded. I only had minutes left to try and escape and I could already feel the heat of the fire on my toes. "You don't believe in the sword, so the sword doesn't believe in you." He smiled creepily and began chanting with the others.

Out of panic, I could feel my soul swell with power. It was the first time that this had ever happened to me. I felt as if at any moment, I could jump from this foul state and just run for miles to start a new life, far from evil and these people.

All of a sudden, I found myself chanting—not what they were saying by any means. It was a chant my mother taught me before she died. I remember the Wind tribe would sing it to the babies of the village so they grew up strong and healthy.

As I chanted, the villagers' expressions began to change. They went from vacant, with a slight tint of happiness at my forthcoming death, to a shocked—dare I say it—_scared_ expression. I found myself screaming the chant as the fire grew hotter and hotter, beginning to burn my shoes.

"Wind!" I yelled and as if all the stars aligned, I could feel myself fall backwards. Power still surged through me; so much so that I couldn't even feel the pain of hitting the floor. Walking over to the fire, I burned off the rope that was tied tightly around my wrists. _Idiots_, I thought as I slid my hands across the handles of my weapons. It was pretty stupid to leave them with me, but I guess they figured what could a dead girl do with weapons? Or maybe, they figured my weapons would be destroyed too.

Whatever the reason, I used this mistake to my advantage and in my rage, I began slashing. Copious amounts of black blood began to shoot through the air with each strike of the blade against their cursed flesh. Maybe it was bad to think this, but I honestly didn't care how much pain I was putting them through. They weren't themselves anyway. Not to mention they tried to kill me...

I looked around, heart pounding, sweat dripping from every part of my body with the intensity of this fight. A gust of wind seemed to lead me further and further away from my attackers. It was as if it was coaxing me to leave. After slashing my last seen assailant in the face, the blood spurting on my clothes, I did what no fighter should do and I ran with my back to the savages.

I figured if I ran fast enough, I could leave, never to see those awful people again. Naturally there was a hiccup in my plan. A jolt and wave of pain pushed my forward. I screamed, paralyzed by whatever was constricting my body. I turned my head to see the feathers of the end of an arrow, the head of it buried in my lower back.

Seeing the figure that shot the arrow at me also led my gaze to the fire that was supposed to have consumed me. Now I saw that it was enveloping my belongings in the blazes of deep red and orange, destroying everything that was mine, everything that was me. As I found the strength to stand and run, the pain dulled if only for a moment; as if to tell me this was my chance. But to my dismay, I was jolted forward another time in the right shoulder, seeing the arrow head peeping out of it made me cringe. Although painful, it only caused me to push myself further. If I didn't get out now, I, too, would be among the wreckage.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:The spicy hippo returns! hehe...I hope you like this chapter. It's killing me to have this move along like it is (Wait what?), but ohh welll. ENJOY! :D**

I woke up to the sound of water splashing on my face and the sound of gusting wind. Coughing, I opened my weary eyes, revealing a blurry scene I couldn't even comprehend. My body felt as though it were moving, but I knew I was laying there. Laying? Where were the arrows?

"Where am I?" my raspy voice managed to croak.

"You're safe with us Miss," an old man with a great white beard and ponytail said, dabbing a warm cloth over my brow. My vision began to clear and I saw that I was in a wagon of sorts. Horses were pulling us into town, the cobblestone roads beginning to shake the whole carriage. To my shock, the pain from my injuries was minimal; the emotional toil of seeing mother's personal belongings being engulfed by fire hurt the most. The man only looked at me with a sweet expression that could only be described as grandfatherly.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, sitting up, rubbing my bandaged shoulder.

"We're headed into my training facility." What did he mean by training facility? Like a fighting facility

"Training facility? Why?"

"Talim, Talim," he shook his head with a smile. _How'd he know my name?_ "I thought you knew. You're one of the chosen." I half expected him to keep talking, but he did no such thing.

"The chosen?" I coaxed.

"Yes, one of the few who is meant to find Soul Caliber blade and destroy the evil that is Soul Edge." The wind seemed to be knocked out of my chest.

"What?!" I almost sounded panicked, but I tried to contain most of it. "What do you mean chosen?"

"You eluded death from one of the most supreme evils we have on earth..." he gave me a look that said I was crazy. " Why else would you be chosen if not for your ability to be so strong? To leave the home you knew most likely never to return, and not even looking back or knowing where you were headed?" He sure had a way with words...well, words of the depressing variety.

Sensing I didn't really have a choice here, I said, "So what do I do?"

"You listen to my instruction. At my facility, we have a buddy system of sorts. So, when you arrive, I'll set you up with one of my men and you will be on your way to find the sacred weaponry that will show you the pathway to Soul Edge."

"But I already know where it is," I shrugged, hurting my shoulder a little. "It's in my village."

"It _was_ in your village," he wagged his finger at me, "My facility is compiled of surviving sacrifices. Trust me when I say the blade is long gone from your village. Once discovered by an outsider, or in most cases a sacrifice, the blade is forced to relocate. It can't take any chances on being discovered in the same place." I hated to say it all made sense. I had already figured the power of Soul Edge was beyond thought. My fears were confirmed.

"Well...I guess I don't really have a choice in all this."

"Don't worry my child," he said, patting my shoulder gently, "If it was meant to be, it will be." I could only smile in response. This man was probably the only person even close to a friend that I was going to have. Let's be honest, no man is going to respect a 17 year old girl...even if I am the best 17 year old they'll ever meet.

"Oh, I meant to ask, what's your name?"

"Soul Master."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: YAY! Kilik is finally introduced! :D Mwahahahah! the romance begins! Are you as excited as i am?**

I threw my wobbly legs over the side of the wagon, pain shooting up my spine as my feet hit the ground. My wounds obviously had not yet healed. I wasn't sure quite how I was going to be any use to Soul Master or his little army...or whatever they were called.

I limped into the little building that had a typical Asian style roof and surprisingly stable walls made from wood. Before even stepping inside, I could hear the punching and yelling of training. When Master helped me walk inside, my eyes took in the glossy wood floors lined with people punching and defending themselves. A little ways down the single room were three steps that led to a small tree sprouting out and over the ceiling out into the open air. There was only one person up by the tree, a rather attractive man might I add, who was tending to the branches.

Before I could even wipe the dirt off my face or fix my hair, Master and I were standing within touching distance of this man. My face began to blush as Master said, "Kilik, you'll be glad to know that you now have a partner. Her name's Talim."

The tall-dark-and-handsome man named Kilik held out his hand for me to shake. I took his hand and shook it, observing him a little closer. He had a patterned sash tied across his head, various beads and metals around his arms, and cropped decorative pants. Overall, his attire looked as though he was from a tribe like mine. Like me, he had a fair amount of skin showing...not that I minded.

"Hello Talim," he said with a smile. "I'm Kilik. I see you're from the Wind tribe." He pointed to my attire. It almost warmed me up inside to have someone who was in a fellow tribe be my partner. Looking closer at his tribal-wear, it looked as though he were a part of a neighboring tribe called "Maelstrom."

"I see you're from the Maelstrom tribe," I said. He seemed a little surprised that I knew about that, but he only smiled and nodded.

"Well, we should probably get you to our room," he said, motioning with his hand for me to follow him. _Our room?_ I almost swooned right there. I looked back at Master for some sign of approval but he only motioned for me to follow him. I began to walk—well, limp actually—and followed close behind Kilik, the smell of musk and pine trailing behind him. _Great...I probably smell like balls_. To my surprise, he looped an arm around me to support me as I walked. Naturally I was too embarrassed to say anything. "You probably know about the healing methods of my tribe; they work pretty well, so we'll just use them on you, alright?"

"Sure," I said, wobbling slightly as he opened the door to reveal a room that matched the rest of the glossy floored facility. There were two bed mats separated by a small tree that poked out into the sky. A nice breeze filtered through the room as I walked into the room.

"Seng-Mina will clean you up while I prepare the medicine." He smiled as he handed me off to another tribe garbed woman.

It had been at least two days and a battle since I had bathed. My own scent was beginning to nauseate me...when the warm water flowed over my body, a feeling of calm came over me. Except when the hot water seeped into my wounds, it was an overall relaxing experience. The scent of gardenia enveloped me (quite an improvement from my prior barf-tastic smell) as I pulled on my now clean clothes.

Seng-Mina carefully coaxed me out of the warm bathroom into the only other room with the little tree. I ran my hand through my damp hair as I sat next to Kilik who was stirring up a thick mixture of herbs and spices. Since I was wearing cutoff pants and basically a sash around my chest (what little one I had), I knew I wouldn't have to strip down for him to apply the ointment.

"You ready?" he asked with a smile, lathering his hands in the herby goo.

"Yes," I said, turning so my back faced him. I prepared myself for a burning pain from the ointment, but there was no pain. In fact, his massaging hands soothed any pain that was there prior. The minty smell from the herbs was calming as well.

"So, how old are you?" It seemed like an odd question but I suppose he was just trying to ease the tension. After all, he was getting his hands all up in my business.

"17," I said. "How old are you?"

"Young enough that this isn't creepy," he said with a chuckle as he layered my wounds with more herb goo. The goo almost seemed to numb any pain that was there. "Wow, your wounds are really swollen. What happened?"

It was a good thing I couldn't look at them otherwise I'd probably blow some chunks, but I responded, "I was shot with arrows. It was at night so that's probably why they didn't kill me; the shooters couldn't see me very well."

"They got a pretty nice shot."

"Yeah, well, they were a savage people," I blurted before I could take it back. To be honest, I didn't really want to take it back. It certainly wasn't a lie. They were cruel. "Yup, if the food prepared wasn't 'fit' for the chiefs, they'd have you whipped. It seemed that if you dropped a plate they'd stone you...nothing was out of the realm of possibility..."

"Wow...that seems like an odd personality for the _Wind_ tribe. The name is rather...nice sounding."

"Yes well, all tribes have their quirks...in a way, I'm almost glad Soul Edge came to our village. It gave me the opportunity to leave. They don't value women my age anyway." His soothing fingers lingered to my lower back, spreading ointment where they traveled. No one had ever tried to heal me before. If anything they'd pour salt in my wounds and tell me to suck it up while they proceeded to spit in my face. His healing touch was intoxicating.

"What do you mean? You're still so young."

"Well, women in my village are considered old maids by my age. But the same goes for men. Once they are of no use, they are thrown out like a used bandage. That was why my father arranged to have me marry a wealthy man among my tribe." I started to chuckle. "It's kind of ironic really; he was one of the first people to attack me."

"Huh," he said, his fingers suddenly leaving my back as he stood up and sat in front of me. "Well, my tribe is very different—er, _was_ very different. Unfortunately they had the same fate as yours." His eyes seemed happy, yet there was a hint of sadness there.

"You were the only survivor?"

He chuckled, "Yes." After a few moments of awkward silence Kilik said, "Well, the swelling seems to have gone down. You should be fully healed in a matter of a day or two." I only nodded in reply as I began braiding my hair in its usual style. "By the way, I don't think you're an old maid," he said winking.

It was a good thing he left the room because I could feel my face heat up with embarrassment. No one had ever winked at me before. It was so weird to be treated like I was human, as odd as that may have sounded. I pondered the thought as I crawled into the bed mat that had the symbol of my tribe on it. As I shut my eyes I began to wonder how Soul Master knew I was coming...What did he have in store for me?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know I said the chapters were going to be short, but I just couldn't stop writing this one! I love me some fighting scenes *insert Honey Boo Boo voice here* Anyway, tell me what you think! Enjoy!**

I was awakened (with no pain might I add) by the sound of a bell. In my old tribe if you did not arise when told to, let's just say you didn't rise at all. So I bounded to my feet, hearing the groans of everyone else who was still trying to squeeze out one last moment of sleep. My head couldn't help but turn over to Kilik who was calmly sleeping.

The bell rang again and as I walked into the main room that I was first introduced to when I arrived, I saw Master sitting at a long table, a bowl of food at every place. I sat on the ground across from him realizing how hungry I was as I stared at the fresh fruit that was in the emerald bowls.

"You may eat if you wish," he motioned for me to dig in. "And if you want to," he whispered, "you can take some of theirs too. I promise I won't tell." I only chuckled as I popped a blueberry in my mouth.

After a few moments of waiting, others began to waltz over to the table although groggy and yawning. It appeared everyone was sitting near their partners. I wondered why they shared such an allegiance towards each other. It wasn't like they really knew each other _that_ well.

Eventually Kilik came to the table and sat next to me, yawning as he said, "Feel better?"

"Yes, much better, thank you." I nodded as I looked at the table.

"Do you find me hard to look at?" He asked. _Oh, to the contrary!_ Although I didn't look at him, I could tell there was a smile on his face.

"What? No." I said, finally establishing eye contact.

"Then why do you never look me in the face?" I only shrugged in response. What was I supposed to say? _Oh, yeah, I don't look at you because staring at you is like looking into the sun. It's almost painful how beautiful you are._ He chuckled and tousled my hair, "We're all friends here. There's no need to be so nervous." _Yeah, tell that to my imploding heart._

Our conversation was quickly ended as Master stood saying, "Now, you all know the customary keep-you-on-your-toes-drills you _should_ be doing with your partner?" There was a slight exchanging of whispers at the table. "Hm, that's what I thought." He smiled. "Well, I want you to make sure you're still doing those! You never know when someone will try to sneak up on you!" He walked over to one of the walls and pressed a button. A shelf of weapons was revealed as the wall moved. "Today will be a basic training day. We will have a midday meal at noon, and supper at five. I will be around to check on you."

With the end of his sentence, the people at the corners of the table lifted it up and away from us, storing it in front of the weapons. People threw the pillows we were sitting on wherever they deemed fit so I did the same. Everyone went off to designated areas of the room and began hitting each other—in an orderly manner of course.

I thought it was kind of weird that they were at Master's beck and call like that, but then again, my chief also used to call the shots. Kilik tapped me on the shoulder, handing me my blades. My blades! They were like a child of my own to me...except they loved me and couldn't reject me (insert tears here).

"So what are the drills?" I asked as Kilik grabbed what looked like a fancy stick. Really? Out of all the weapons you choose a fancy stick? I tried not to shake my head in disapproval.

"Well," he said swinging at me. I quickly deflected the shot. Between breaths he said, "As Master said, they're supposed to keep us on our toes. Basically all you do is surprise your partner—that would be me—at random moments throughout the day"

"Why'd people stop doing it?" I asked, swinging at him, "It actually seems like a smart idea."

"Yeah well, I guess it gets annoying after a while. But I guess we'll just have to see." He jabbed me in the stomach with the end of the stick momentarily knocking the wind out of me. But I had much fight left in me. Unlike his weapon, mine weren't unwieldy. They were light and easy to slice people with.

Catching him off guard, I kicked his stick up causing him to flail backwards. This probably should have been the point where I was merciful, but eh, might as well show him what I got, right? I used both of my blades to hook his fancy weapon in them, making them stuck between the back of my wrist and my blade. Kicking his ankles, I pushed him to the floor with an oomph.

I could feel his body pulsing under mine. An embarrassed laugh escaped him as he looked around. I too began to look to see that we had gained a crowd. Apparently he decided to use my wandering eyes to his advantage and he pushed me back, both of us standing to our feet.

"Well," he spun his stick in the air causing a musical noise to float through the air, "I was not expecting that Miss Talim. I guess I misjudged you," he pretended to tip his hat. "Might we continue?"

"Of course," I said, pretending to bow as though he were a king.

With much speed he threw the stick at me, pushing me back. As if it were a boomerang, it came back to him, and he swung. Thrusting my left arm harshly to deflect his attack, I used my right arm to wrap around his neck, gingerly pressing the blade up to his neck. What I hadn't realized was, this move of his was also a trap. Apparently, this wasn't your average "fancy stick"; it had a blade that would pop out at the press of a button. As of now, he had this blade pressed up against the back of my neck.

We both froze fearing that with one false move, we would no longer have a partner. I had never been so close to a man before that I could feel his cool breath on my face, his lungs taking in air, his heart beating rapidly. My eyes wandered over the chiseled lines of his cheekbones; the sharp angles of his jaw. I could see his eyes were also traveling...I wondered what they were looking at.

The crowd began to cheer and we managed to pull away from each other without inflicting bodily harm on one another. The women of the group patted my shoulders, cheering me on; the men high fiving Kilik, cheering him on. I noticed that Soul Master was standing nearby, watching all of this unfold. It almost looked as though he were smiling to himself.

"We should bet on this!" I heard one of the men say, "I could make some serious cash!"

"You mean, if you bet Talim would win," one of the girls said. The man chuckled in response; not in a mean way, almost in a husbandly way. I wondered if they were partners.

"Should we bet?" a few people said from the crowd. I looked over to Master for approval. He only nodded. His eyes seemed to tell me this was good for me; this was what I needed to take out all my anger. Well, not _all_ of it. That could turn out a little sour. This was a mock fight after all.

"No, no," Kilik said, shaking his head.

"What, you scared?" I found myself saying. The crowd went silent. An audible "aw burn"' was heard.

"Hehe," Kilik said, twirling his stick again, making a musical sound. "Maybe. Maybe not." He tilted his head. "Perhaps, you are?"

"Ha!" I laughed, although that was sort of supposed to be an internal giggle at best. "I have survived being dipped in scolding water, being stoned, and being attacked by the malfested. Show me what you got." I gave him a "come at me" stance.

He opened the fight by gliding his weapon under my feet, which I successfully jumped over. I ran over to him, hitting back each blow he had to offer, the metal ting sound ringing through the air every time our weapons made contact.

Without warning, he thrust his weapon towards my face, hitting me. I groaned as I tasted the metal tang of blood. The crowd "oh'd" in pain. Kilik almost seemed shocked that he actually hit me. To be honest, it wasn't painful. I think he just split my lip.

Using his shock to my advantage, I hit him with blow after blow, only for each one to be blocked by his fancy stick. Feeling my pulse begin to rise, a thin film of sweat cover my body, I grasped his weapon which was horizontally blocking me, and lifted my body up into a handstand. I was too quick for him to react and I sent both of us to the ground with a sickening thud.

With the wind obviously knocked out of him, I swiveled my body over to him and pressed a blade to his throat. The women cheered, the men even clapped. I was surprised to say the least. I wiped the blood from the lip and held my hand out for Kilik to grab.

"Sorry about the lip," he said, lifting himself up with my help.

"Oh, that's alright. Some of your ointment should help." That almost sounded strangely...provocative or something. All I knew was that I felt slightly uneasy after I said that.

"You're a real trooper!" he said, putting his weapon back on the shelf along with mine. "Let's fix your lip before we go back to fighting. That can't taste good." I nodded in agreement. I walked past Master, a smile on his face as he patted my back reassuringly. I had never had so much support in my whole life. It was nice for a change to have someone care about you.

Once we got into our room we sat down on Kilik's bed mat and he gave me a cup of water and a bowl, where they came from I wasn't sure, but I accepted them. I didn't really know what to do with them, but I accepted them nonetheless. "Don't you want to rinse out your mouth?" he asked. _Duh stupid! Rinse!_

"Right," I said, lifting the cup gently to my lips, taking a swig, then spitting it into the bowl. There really wasn't a whole lot of blood, so I put the cup and bowl down, waiting for him to grab the healing goo of magicalness...er, the ointment.

"Okay, this might taste bad, just warning you," he said, dabbing his finger in the goo, lifting them carefully up to my swollen lip. He gingerly rubbed the ointment into my wound. Almost instantly, I felt it beginning to heal. And it didn't even taste bad! "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," I said, already feeling the swelling going down. "What is that stuff anyway?"

"Oh, you know, _magic_," he said with a lilt in his voice and a chuckle. I probably could have applied the magical goo myself, but let's be honest, wouldn't you take advantage of this opportunity? "Well, ready to go back?" he asked, helping me up.

"Yup," I said, walking back out into the glossy fighting room where the rest of the people were back to their own business. As Kilik tossed me my weapons, a half smile on his face, I began to wonder what this new life would entail...


End file.
